From viewing to deciding: How YouTube videos impact medical decisions? An empirical investigation using S-O-R framework

Purpose The purpose of the study is to examine how the YouTube engagement cues influence users' perceived usefulness of health video content and their usage of YouTube for medical decision-making. Design/methodology/approach This study employs the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework to investigate the intricate dynamics shaping medical decisions. The present research adopted a cross-sectional design involving data from 408 respondents in India through a non-probabilistic sampling procedure. The two-stage structural equation modelling (SEM) approach was adopted to analyze the data. Findings Findings from the proposed framework show that the engagement cues positively influenced the perceived usefulness of YouTube videos, with information quality and reliability emerging as equally significant stimulus drivers. Perceived usefulness, in turn, strongly predicted users' intention to make medical decisions. The findings validate the heuristic systematic model (HSM) integrated S-O-R framework as a robust theoretical framework shaping health decision behaviour in the digital environment. Research limitations/implications Nevertheless, the significant contributions to YouTube medical decision-making literature, few limitations may give opportunities for future improvements. The study being cross-sectional may not describe causal relationships. Therefore, a longitudinal study across a time period may be conducted to discover how YouTube viewers view videos for medical decision-making. Conducting longitudinal studies will enable scholars to track changes in viewer behaviour and the influence of medical YouTube videos over an extended period, providing a more nuanced insight into the long-term effects. Practical implications The findings carry actionable insights for health communicators, content creators and platform managers. Health communicators can strategically cultivate YouTube engagement as credibility signals to enhance the perceived usefulness of their health content. For content creators, the findings highlight the responsibility of maximizing engagement while maintaining accuracy, given that high-engagement content is perceived as highly useful and directly influences medical decisions. Platform managers can reform recommendation algorithms to integrate quality alongside metrics, ensuring that algorithmically amplified health content supports rather than undermines public health outcomes. Social implications The study highlights how YouTube can act as an accessible platform for disseminating health information. The findings support the idea that digital platforms can empower individuals to take a more active role in their health decisions. The widespread use of YouTube across diverse demographic groups suggests that video-based health communication can bridge information gaps and improve access to health knowledge for different segments of society. Originality/value The study leads to the evolving discourse on the influence of health-related information online on medical decision-making by integrating a comprehensive S-O-R framework and HSM. The study reconceptualizes engagement metrics as subjectively perceived heuristic cues rather than objective platform variables.